Post navigation

Spoonflower: For the Crafting Bug

So, I’m not terribly crafty. I can sew a button back in place, but I can’t sew a pair of pants. I can use glue and glitter on posterboard, but I can’t draw a picture. I can crochet a chain, but not a blanket. You should have seen my attempt at a granny square. And my poor mother-in-law once attempted to show me how to knit. That went less than spectacularly as well.

HOWEVER: I have this terrible desire to create things for my son. And just buying beautifully created hand crafted items from Etsy doesn’t replace my need to make something special for Gibson. I tried. I bought this great wooden teether shaped like a robot. And I’ve purchased 6 inch tall wooden robot cutouts to use on the Christmas tree. They just don’t cut it. They are perfect in every way except I didn’t create them.

So how to cure this itch? That’s where Spoonflower comes in. I can combine other people’s talent with my lack luster skill to create something I will feel good about. When my friends were expecting their baby two and a half years ago, another friend introduced me to Spoonflower. We had a sewing party to create adorable stuffed animals and colorful pillows for the new baby on the way. So now that I’m expecting my own, I remembered the site.

This shop allows artists to print their designs on fabric. That’s the end deal here. However, they can also upload their designs for other people to purchase. Spoonflower will print the design to order on the fabric of your choice and then mail it to you. You could make funky bedsheets that look like circuit boards. You can find just about anything on this site.

But the thing that really works for me is that some talented folks will create designs especially meant to be turned into dolls. At the sewing party mentioned above, I purchased this Ninja Beans set. Even for someone as lacking in craftiness as me, this project was a breeze. I hand sewed the pink ninja and used a sewing machine on the blue ninja. I believe I hand sewed the baby ninja as well.

The combed cotton I chose to have the design printed on is long lasting and stands up to abuse. As you can see in this photo, the ninja beans have lasted for over two years in the care of a rambunctious and active toddler. They are much loved, and I can’t help but be pleased when I see my friend’s son playing with them. I want the same thing for my son.

Since we’ve gone with a robot theme for our son’s nursery, I went back to Spoonflower in search of robot dolls to sew for him. And the website did not disappoint. You could have all kinds of robot attire, curtains, bedsheets or dolls if you’re crafty enough to make them. I’m going to stick with dolls since I’m not that cool. But you could seriously create just about anything!

This is the fabric choice the husband and I settled on for Gibson’s plushie robots. I’d buy the entire store except I fall asleep routinely between 6 and 8 PM. I’d never finish all the projects before my baby was born if I bought everything I wanted from this site. The prices are fairly reasonable (depending on which fabric you choose,) but it does take a long time for your items to arrive as they are printed on demand and not kept in stock.

Either way, if you’re in a crafting mood but have less than stellar skills, or you are a master crafter and just want to take advantage of the rich variety of prints available on the Spoonflower website, I highly recommend the service. It’s a brilliant concept, and it really satisfies my itch to create for my son.

*This is NOT a paid advertisement for Spoonflower.I was not compensated.
My observations and ratings are my own.
The website is not even aware of this post.*